Good news: On May 10th Massachusetts launched its ABLE program, named The Attainable Savings Plan, to allow people who become disabled to save money, tax-free, and have more financial freedom than they have had in decades.

An ABLE account allows donors to put up to $14,000 into the account per year, to grow tax-free. Even more important than the tax benefits, the money in the account, up to $100,000, is not counted when determining eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”) and MassHealth. In other words, a person can have up to $100,000 in an Able Account and still be considered to have less than $2,000 in assets, thereby qualifying for SSI and MassHealth.

Parents of children with special needs should understand the U.S. government’s two different income support programs: SSI (Supplemental Security Income) and SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance). These programs both provide cash to disabled people who cannot be gainfully employed, via monthly checks. There is a lot of confusion about the difference between the two programs. Although SSI and SSDI both provide supplemental income to disabled people, and have similar names, they are completely different programs.